Arts and Entertainment Management

Interdisciplinary Studies is defined as: the idea of integrating two or more disciplines to create an understanding of their connection. I incorporated two disciplines of business and the arts, and found the interdependence between them. The arts industry relies on aspects of business such as: marketing, management, and promotion of performances. The business field relates to the arts industry in the way it involves planning, organizing, and communication of these performances or events. So why must we see these two categories as separate? Majoring in only the arts and entertainment aspect, or only a broad degree of business management, would be completely different from majoring in, “Arts and Entertainment Management”. Having knowledge of both disciplines makes my education much more complete and specific to my career interests. Earning a Bachelor of Arts degree in “Arts and Entertainment Management”, is including the entire package. I am using Interdisciplinary Studies to direct my education and achieve my goal to one day have a job in a theatre, club, or performing arts center, and work with managing as well as promoting the events at a facility. This degree will help me to become a well-rounded professional in the industry.

My connection courses to the major include 8 theatre and music courses, and 7 business courses. There were a few theatre and music courses that were very much business-management related- one of those in particular being, Stage Management/Arts Management. This class includes production, planning, and organizing of events, as well as facility administration skills. These are skills I will need to know and practice to run a successful performance event. Topics in Music will supply me with the knowledge of various areas of music, that (being in the music industry), I should be aware of. It is a courses that varies topics every semester, however whether the topic is modern music or music of the past, as a class we discuss how what we choose to study is relevant or has influenced music of the modern day. Another music related course I chose was Technology in Music Performance. This counts as a TECO course and will teach me the history and evolution of music technology. It is important to know how an event is being functioned technologically, to know that it will run smoothly. Similar to this, Technology for Theatre Professionals differs from Technology in Music Performance in the way it overviews how to use the internet to facilitate functionality within the arts industry. The Internet has changed the arts and entertainment world dramatically and has become the main source of not only organizing an event, but also marketing it to the public. Design for the Theatre is a class that will cover everything from: scene design, lighting design, and costume design. This course will teach me the creative side of any kind of performance that will support the behind the scenes planning and budgeting of what is actually being designed. Going along with Design for the Theatre, I will also be including a Stagecraft Fundamental course. This will cover the planning and logistics of the construction of an event. It will include the choosing and budgeting of materials. Showcasing an event can be extremely expensive when you consider: hiring performers, hiring technicians, a crew, promoters, marketers, security, and a venue. Knowledge from this course will help me monitor all of these expenses. Seminar in Music Business has extreme relevance to my major. As the title suggests, this seminar involves a survey of topics relating to music retailing, publishing, broadcasting, and contracts. If I were to work for an artist in booking their shows or promoting them, this is all legal information I would need to know. Lastly for theatre and music courses, I would be interested in doing a Music Internship which counts as a 3 credit course here at Plymouth State University. This is a great opportunity for me to gain outside work experience. Because my degree is so unique, it is very important that I have work experience and transferrable skills to show future employers I have worked with the knowledge I have gained. This supervised internship that I will complete my senior year, includes a self-assessment to tie together all I have learned.

The business side of my degree will include 7 courses that will enhance my understanding of the organization, management, and marketing of putting on a performance. Financial Reporting and Analysis covers the accounting process including: financial statements and the analysis of those statements. This is significant because it is necessary for me to understand the analysis of the statements from the perspective of the user decision making, in order to be successful. Something I will need to prepare a budget for is, Event Marketing which is a course I have chosen specifically so I am able to get people interested in my events. This requires knowledge of branding, target marketing analysis, project management and promotion. This course actually has students physically plan an event on campus, and put it on for the students and faculty. The outside experience will prove to be very beneficial in my education. Going along with Event Marketing, Principles of Marketing I have chosen because it involves the basics of marketing a product which involves the basic ideas that transfer to marketing an artist. I will also be taking a course in Small Business/Entrepreneurship Marketing and Operations. An important factor of this class that caught my attention, was the idea of developing an integrated marketing communications plan for a business in a “selected industry”-which of course in my case, would be the arts and entertainment industry. Having the option to specify my learning in a course is the greatest opportunity I could have with Interdisciplinary Studies. I included Business Law that has connection to what happens in the arts and entertainment industry with recording and tour contracts. I need to know the basics of business law so I will not run into legal issues in the future. Covered in this course are the following: torts, contracts, property, employment and business. Next, I have an Organizational Communication which is a WRCO class that will teach me how to communicate as a professional in the business world. This becomes very important when working on a large team and having to make decisions and agree and disagree on certain aspects of the planning process. Business Statistics is a QRCO requirement that will be useful to know in my work environment by giving me the knowledge of descriptive status, probability, and sampling, as well as regression analysis. I will use this when analyzing who is attending my events and how successful they will be.

This program I have created is considered Interdisciplinary because it involves the coming together of two separate disciplines: Arts and Business. They are both equally a large part of my degree and come together to create a new field that is not offered at Plymouth State University. This degree will give me the correct set of skills including: the arts and music background, and planning of events background, to become successful in my career. There is nothing I look forward to more than being able to do something I love every day of my life, and this is the step I must take to get there.